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Men's Hoops Team Drops OT Thriller to Wheaton
Box Score
ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team, ranked 13th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, dropped to 3-3 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin following a 79-75 overtime loss to 22nd ranked Wheaton College.
Elmhurst (13-4 overall) trailed by 10 with nine minutes to play before mounting a 15-5 run to close the half and force overtime. A pair of Ryan Burks (Manito/Midwest Central) free throws with 1:42 to play evened the score at 63-all.
Both teams had chances to win in regulation as both Burks and Brent Ruch (Farmer City/Blue Ridge) missed shots in the closing minute. Wheaton's Kent Raymond missed a jumper with seconds remaining and Ben Panner missed the put-back jumper at the buzzer.
In the extra period, the Thunder grabbed a lead with 3:11 to play on a pair of Raymond free throws. After an Elmhurst turnover, Andy Wiele converted a three-point play to put the Thunder up by five. The Bluejays would come no closer than three points the rest of the way.
Elmhurst led by 11 points in the first half and carried a 35-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.
After shooting 42.4 percent in the first half (14-of-33), the Bluejays struggled the rest of the way shooting only 33.3 percent (7-of-21) in the second half and 20.0 percent (2-of-10) in overtime. For the game, the Bluejays shot 35.9 percent (23-of-64) from the field and only 25.0 percent (5-of-20) from beyond the arc. Elmhurst hit 24-of-26 (92.3 percent) of its foul shots.
Wheaton finished the game shooting 42.5 percent (31-of-73) from the floor and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from downtown. The Thunder's 3-point shooting was solid after the first half. Wheaton connected on its first five 3-point attempts of the half and shot 6-of-8 from beyond the arc after the first half.
Ruch led Elmhurst with 19 points and 13 rebounds while Burks also recorded a double-double, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Robert Strzemp (Oak Park/Oak Park-River Forest) added 16 points and nine rebounds.
Raymond led the Thunder with a game-high 33 points on 12-of-30 shooting. Panner added 18 points and seven assists while Wiele finished with 16 points and 12 boards.
Elmhurst travels to North Central College on Wednesday, January 30, at 7:30 p.m.
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